King of High School Life Conduct: Episode 16 Recap

Episode 16 attempts to tie up all loose ends between everyone except for our main couple who still struggles between balancing their own lives and their relationship with each other. Because although Min Suk and Soo Young have been together for quite some time now, these difficulties that they have yet to overcome offers the idea that maybe Min Suk and Soo Young doesn’t know each other as much as they thought they had.

From where we left off in episode 15, Grandpa had unfortunately passed away. The family holds a funeral for him where Soo Young and the rest of the Retail Team come to pay their respects. Upon arriving, the Retail Team is hesitant to enter because they can’t help but be reminded of how Min Suk is just a high schooler, but Assistant Manager Yoon encourages everyone to enter after referring to Min Suk as Director. “Once a director, always a director,” he explains. AWWWWWW. Team Leader Kim also consoles Min Suk by giving him a long warm hug.

Dad happens to find Hyung Suk leaving the funeral so he chases after his son to have a talk. After telling his son to not feel guilty for what happened to Grandpa, he also encourages Hyung Suk to stop his revenge scheme. Upon hearing this, Hyung Suk recalls the moment when Grandpa had rewarded Hyung Suk with some chocolate and told him to be good and to make good choices. This memory sticks with Hyung Suk even when he arrives at his apartment where he begins to break down.

The loss of Grandpa continues to impact Dad and Min Suk’s life heavily. Min Suk can still imagine his Grandpa living in the house being his silly self as if he was still alive. While exercising outside by himself, Min Suk lifts up one of the wooden tables to find bag of snacks stuck to it. Min Suk begins to weep upon seeing this and promises Grandpa that he’ll eat all of it.

(Oof, look at this! LOOK AT THIS. DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE NOT HEART-BROKEN WHEN YOU SEE THIS FACE. UGH).

Meanwhile at COMFO, Director Yoo and the Managing Directors find themselves in some trouble. They can’t seem to find any solutions to any of their problems and grow stressed over how they will solve them. Just when all hope seems lost, an employee hands them disclaimer documents stating that PAVO will return the investment funds. The good news spreads over to the Retail Team office and even to Min Suk who gets a call from his girlfriend explaining about the investment funds. Min Suk tries to contact his brother while at school but finds himself in a rush to meet with his brother when he gets a text message from Hyung Suk saying, “Min Suk, I’m sorry. I thought that getting revenge was the best way for our late father. I’m sorry to burden you so much. But you did very well in the grown-up world. In your own way that doesn’t hurt others or get hurt by anyone. Hyung is really proud of you. As you said, there was nothing I could change by doing that (achieving his revenge). It would have been much nicer if I had stayed beside Dad, Grandpa, and you during that time. Regrets are always late. Thank you and I’m sorry. I’ll call you. I love you, my dongsaeng.” When the voice-over reading the text message ends, we find Min Suk at the airport to catch a glimpse of his brother one last time before watching Hyung Suk disappear to leave to return to Germany.

President of CEO who is still in the hospital voices his wish to quit as President and to just hire a management expert to take over his place. He also wishes for Director Yoo to continue to work at COMFO and support the company. However, Director Yoo can’t obey his father’s plans. The only reason as to why he continued to work at COMFO was because of his father. But what Director Yoo does wish for is for his father to visit his mother and take good care of her so Director Yoo’s father agrees to go visit his mother once he gets out of the hospital. He also asks Director Yoo for a favor which we see in the very next scene.

Director Yoo approaches Min Suk as he’s returning home with a few documents, explaining that the stocks that his dad had sold was Min Suk’s dad’s share so Min Suk should keep it. However Min Suk cannot accept it and tells Director Yoo to just use the money for a good cause. He also apologizes for the way he acted towards Director Yoo and for being rude to a man 12 years older than him. Haha. To reconcile, Min Suk will refer to Director Yoo as his Hyung from now on so they shake hands to be on good terms. Before disappearing, Director Yoo calls Min Suk to tell him that he will be “borrowing” Min Suk’s girlfriend one last time. This of course infuriates Min Suk who states that he can never like Director Yoo no matter how many times he tries. Hahaha.

That evening, Director Yoo and Soo Young meet up in her neighborhood and talk while taking a walk. When Director Yoo reveals to Soo Young his plans of leaving COMFO, she can’t hide her sadness and disappointment. She admits that he was her reason for being happy at work which makes him feel happy in return. They hug each other one last time where Director Yoo then takes the chance to confess, “I didn’t have much to smile about. But since I met you I think I smiled a lot. Thank you with all of my heart.” Before bidding farewell, they both agree to not tell Min Suk about their hug or else he’ll get super mad. Haha. The farewell is bittersweet as they give each other some kind and warm comments before Soo Young walks away.

The next morning, Soo Young calls Min Suk early in the morning to remind him that they have to exercise (because ya know, he is on the hockey team again). So although Min Suk is unwilling to exercise, he does it for his girlfriend. He’s still the same person he always used to be, trying to find whatever way there is to physically contact his girlfriend, but Soo Young is still Soo Young and reminds him of the NPC rule – the no physical contact rule. Hahaha. But we all know how Min Suk is and he eventually finds a way to hug his girlfriend without her going crazy about it. Hehe, too cute.

When Min Suk and Soo Young visit the doctor, they are told that Min Suk’s ligament is healing faster than expected and if he continues to exercise like how he has been doing, he will eventually get to play sports again (YAY!).

While having breakfast on the day of the final game, Min Suk expresses his desire to win the final game. He adds that if he does win, he’s going to give his father the trophy (Awww).

Before the final game starts, Soo Young finds herself accompanied by the other Retail Team members who have also arrived at the hockey stadium to support their Director (seriously, this is way too adorable). They all complain about how it’s cold, especially Managing Director Han who has come in a simple t-shirt. Hahaha. And then there’s Team Leader Kim who’s wearing a big yellow jacket.

Dad finds himself having some trouble with one of the washers in his laundromat (OH NO. DON’T TELL ME THAT THIS IS FORESHADOWING THAT SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN TO MIN SUK AT THE HOCKEY GAME. KING OF HIGH SCHOOL ALWAYS, ALWAYS PULLS THIS KIND OF TRICK ON US AND I FREAKING HATE IT BECAUSE IT USUALLY MEANS THAT SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN AND THIS SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME). After a short motivational and encouraging talk with the Coach, Min Suk’s hockey team gets ready to go up against their opponents on their final game.

The hockey game is intense and rough, but Min Suk’s hockey team eventually defeats their opponents thanks to Min Suk’s last minute goal (more like last second goal, haha). But like usual, something bad always has to freaking happen. Min Suk begins to cry in anger and disappointment as he touches his shoulder while lying down on the rink.

It turns out that one of Min Suk’s muscles has been completely torn so it’s impossible for him to play hockey anymore. Although it breaks Min Suk’s (and mine) heart, he remains optimistic and points out that at least he tried and in the end that’s all that counts. Soo Young hugs Min Suk and points out that her boyfriend is so cool and that she falls for him over and over again (reminds me of something I would say to my biases, haha). They talk a bit about acronyms to which Soo Young makes up her own: NSDW which stands for Noona will Support so Don’t Worry. Haha. Min Suk complains about it although inside we all know he loves it. Hehe. She also gives him a few pecks on the cheeks, but stops when she sees Deok-hwan and Tae Suk who has also come to visit their best friend covering their eyes not too far away. Haha. They tease Min Suk about the pecking and kissing to which Min Suk doesn’t deny or feel embarrassed about at all.

Min Suk visits the hockey stadium alone that day to where he grows a bit emotional just thinking about all the memories he’s made in that ice rink. He talks to the hockey stadium a bit before leaving with a bittersweet feeling.

Fast forward two months and COMFO has hired a new contractor! Her name is Joo Ae (who I believe is played by Park Hee Bon) and is being instructed by Soo Young on her tasks and assignments. However, Joo Ae remains careless and doesn’t pay any attention to Soo Young. Haha. Soo Young is still the clumsy person she is, spilling some ink on the employees as she tries to teach Joo Ae how to change the toner to the printer.

When Soo Young is informed that the Director would like to see her, she enters his office with her notebook prepared to work. However, it isn’t Min Suk that’s sitting at the desk, it’s Team Leader Kim! OMG. Turns out that Team Leader Kim is now Director of the Retail Team (YAAYYYY!). When he asks about Min Suk, Soo Young answers that he’s studying since it’s that time of the year again where students take exams (whatttt? Min Suk’s studying?!).

While at school, Min Suk and his two best friends are discussing about their exam scores. Turns out that Min Suk still got the same score he did last time although he studied for the exam this year. Haha. Before leaving, he asks for Tae Suk who he refers to as Hubby Oh (SAY WHAT?! HUBBY?! NO FREAKING WAY) to not tell Yoo Ah what Min Suk’s score was. Lol. But right at that moment, Yoo Ah arrives to ask them about Min Suk’s score and finds out that maybe he didn’t do as well as she thought he would have. Haha.

Min Suk finds out that her girlfriend is going to be running a bit late on their lunch date so he has no choice but to wait for her a little bit longer. He does all sorts of silly things to keep himself busy like sliding down a slide only to burn his butt or feeding the pigeons. He even heads to the PC room (a place where computers are provided for kids to play on. Kind of like a computer lab), but lies to his girlfriend that he’s at the library studying when he gets a call from Soo Young. Haha. They don’t get to eat lunch together, but Soo Young does promise to buy Min Suk some very delicious food later on. He then receives a phone call from his brother who expresses his desire for Dad and Min Suk to move to Germany to live with him.

While waiting for Soo Young at a bus stop that evening, Min Suk ponders over what his brother requested. Should he go live with his brother in Germany or not? However, before he can go on to make a decision, Min Suk is soon joined by his girlfriend where they both make plans for dinner. But just when they’re about to leave, Soo Young comes across a long-time friend and her boyfriend (WHO I MIGHT ADD IS LAWYER KIM FROM ‘LET’S EAT’!!!! I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE A CHARACTER FROM ANOTHER DRAMA I ALSO RECAPPED BE IN ANOTHER DRAMA I’M CURRENTLY RECAPPING! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW HAPPY THIS MAKES ME, LOL. IT’S LIKE A MASH-UP OF MY KOREAN DRAMA RECAPS ). They all agree to go eat together so they head to a restaurant.

At the restaurant, Soo Young’s friend reveals to the couple what her boyfriend does for a living. When she finishes explaining to them her boyfriend’s occupation, she asks Soo Young what Min Suk does so Soo Young answers that Min Suk’s a student. Her friend mistakens him for a college student and becomes envious of their relationship due to the fact that they can spend time with each other since her boyfriend is always so busy with work. But then Soo Young’s just like, “Well, we’re busy too.” Hahaha. When they finish eating dinner, Soo Young’s friend’s boyfriend (AKA Lawyer Kim) insists that he just pay for their dinner, but Min Suk isn’t willing to let that happen. They agree to pay half and half so when the cashier reveals to them the cost of their meal, Soo Young has to help Min Suk pay for their half by handing him her credit card. Omg. It’s even funnier because all of this is done in slow motion. Lol.

While walking back home, Min Suk and Soo Young talk smack about Lawyer Kim behind his back, lol. They share a few laughs and smiles and physical contact when Min Suk kisses Soo Young on the cheeks so Soo Young has to remind him again of her NPC rule – no physical contact. Min Suk teases the way she pronounces ‘no physical contact’ and repeats it as if she’s saying chicken place instead since the two phrases sound similar. Omg. haha.

Min Suk goes to visit Director Yoo, bringing some fried chicken with him along the way. While stuffing themselves with chicken, Min Suk rants a little bit to Director Yoo and complains about studying since he’s never studied before and about how he’s not so certain about his future and about how he doesn’t feel comfortable being treated or supported. Director Yoo offers Min Suk some words of advice before letting Min Suk eat the last drumstick since he’s the Hyung and nice one. Haha.

While having breakfast with his dad, Min Suk suggests celebrating his birthday since it’s Dad’s birthday the next day. However, Dad doesn’t seem too accepting of the idea and brushes off all the suggestions that Min Suk brings up.

At work, Soo Young receives a phone call from her mom who reveals that she has no choice but to sell their bungee jumping business, but needs some money in order to do so. Since Soo Young doesn’t have the amount of money that her mom is asking for, Soo Young will go around to ask for some.

While having lunch with her boyfriend, Soo Young can’t help but focus on her mom’s issue with not having enough money. She continues to place her attention on other things other than Min Suk, but becomes attentive when he explains that he wants to throw a birthday party for his dad the next day. The couple discuss on what Soo Young can and cannot bring and finally decide that she cannot bring Dad a gift, but can bring cake instead. Haha.

It’s the day of the birthday party so Dad and Min Suk prepare for the party. Just when Soo Young prepares to head over to Min Suk’s house, she finds herself caught up in some trouble concerning her mother and uncle who are fighting over money issues. While she hurries over to her uncle’s house, Deok-hwan and Tae Suk are already at Min Suk’s house for the birthday party.

The four men wait for Soo Young to arrive at Min Suk’s house, but it becomes uncomfortable when she doesn’t show up. To lighten the dull atmosphere, Deok-hwan and Tae Suk play pretend and pretends that there is a cake on the table. They sing the happy birthday song to Dad and then have him blow out the candles to the cake. Dad even plays along and pretends that he has to cut it. Why is this so sad even though they are all trying to cheer each other up? 😦

Soo Young and Min Suk meet up that night to talk things over. Soo Young repeatedly apologizes for missing out on Dad’s birthday, but explains that she had to take care of her mom so that’s why she wasn’t at the birthday party. Min Suk makes her feel even more guilty when he explains that Dad even made her favorite food (this is too painful to watch). When Min Suk expresses his disappointment over Soo Young not making any efforts to call him or try to reach him somehow, Soo Young suddenly communicates her anger as well. This offends Min Suk who believes that Soo Young has no right to be mad at him. If anything, he should be mad at her (in which he is). He even goes as far as to calling her selfish and assumes that she’s looking down on him because he’s a high schooler – that’s why she’s careless about his feelings or thoughts.

The episode ends with an overwhelmed and sorrowful Soo Young standing alone by herself after getting yelled at by Min Suk who had marched away in anger.

My Thoughts:

OTL, I totally forgot about updating this recap with my thoughts so now that it’s been like 4 days since I posted this recap, I don’t remember any of my thoughts or feelings towards this episode. I’m gonna try my best though to write how I felt the day I posted this recap up.

I do think the argument and fight towards the end of the episode was a bit rather random. I felt like the drama just needed a way to get Min Suk and Soo Young on bad terms that they resorted to Min Suk yelling at Soo Young because she didn’t attend his dad’s birthday. It felt rather random and weird to see Min Suk yell at Soo Young; it seemed like that wasn’t Min Suk’s character at all. Lol. I understand that he’s upset that she couldn’t make it to his dad’s birthday, but when he went off yelling at Soo Young how she’s never considerate of his feelings and thoughts – that made me sort of confused. So there might be times when she encourages him to do things that he doesn’t and does want to do such as working out or holding physical contact with her, but she only does it because she cares for him and wants the best for the both of them. She knew that Min Suk was bummed out over not getting to play hockey so she thought that maybe working out will help prepare Min Suk to get the chance to play hockey again and to do what he loves. There has been many instances (in which I just can’t think of right now) where she’s been considerate of how Min Suk has felt and has tried her best to play her part. We all know that that is how Soo Young is. She cares more about others than she does about herself so to see Min Suk shouting at Soo Young because she’s supposedly looking down on him makes me not only confused but angry as well. She didn’t have to come back to Min Suk. She could have just chose to end it and move far away from him and never meet him again, but she followed her heart and returned to him. That alone should be enough for Min Suk to be grateful for Soo Young.

I’m glad that some relationships have been fixed and improved such as Director Yoo’s relationship with his dad or his relationship with Soo Young or even his relationship with Min Suk. Of course there have been many many things that might have made me loathe Director Yoo in this drama, but those desperate times when he was sincere about wanting his dad to take care of his mom like how he used to did make me sympathize for him a little. I don’t really have any other thoughts or feelings towards Director Yoo other than that I can see him becoming a better person in the future and that makes me sort of happy. Lol.

I’m rather surprised that the revealing of Min Suk wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It made me so so so so happy to see the Retail Team still show their support for Min Suk even though they were aware that he’s not their Director but really just a high schooler who loves to play hockey. I especially love the statement ‘Once a director, always a director.’ It just goes to prove that their relationships with one another was just not formed from working together, but one that extends above and beyond that. It was just so nice seeing the Retail Team support Min Suk. I wasn’t sure if they were going to accept Min Suk once they knew his true identity, but it seems like they got over that rather quickly and that’s always good. But like I was saying, I was afraid that everyone would turn their backs on Min Suk once they found out that he was a high schooler, but everything was rather quite simple and relaxed. People either didn’t care and accepted Min Suk for who he was or just ignored it entirely and never spoke of it again. I thought that when everyone found out who Min Suk was, there would be this big shitstorm and everything would go wrong and bad and Min Suk and Soo Young would never be able to be together again, but by the end of episode 16 where everyone pretty much knew, there were still people supporting Min Suk and Min Suk and Soo Young was still together. I don’t know why I was worrying so much all this time about the cop-out when it wasn’t so bad to begin with, lol.

Now that there’s only one more episode to go, I really can’t predict how the drama is going to end and wrap everything up. I’m just hoping that there will be a happy ending for everyone, especially for Min Suk and Soo Young who’s already had to go through so much just to get to where they are now.

One thought on “King of High School Life Conduct: Episode 16 Recap”

Nice recap! It’s an episode that leaves you feeling a little hollow because it is the letdown from the big happenings and back to real life. Min suk is facing the consequences of being a teenager with an adult girlfriend. He can’t really hold his own. He thought he would have his brother now, but he left again. The camaraderie of the secondary characters is the good part. They give the show a lot of its heart.